Culture Monster’s Top 10 stories of 2012
It was another difficult year for MOCA. Chief curator Paul Schimmel left the building -- whether he resigned or was fired is a matter of debate. His departure was followed by an exodus of prominent artists from the museum’s board of directors. In December, the financially struggling museum entered talks for a possible partnership with USC. To be continued.
MORE: L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art Fires Chief Curator | MOCA Board Exits Pile Up | Critic’s Notebook: MOCA’s firing of Paul Schimmel is a bad sign (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
A look at the blog’s most popular stories this year.
Is it the dream museum job that nobody wants? The role of director of the Getty Museum had been empty for more than two years until Timothy Potts decided to take the job earlier this year. His arrival in September signals a new chapter for the country’s wealthiest art institution.
MORE: Getty Museum to have Timothy Potts as director | Timothy Potts has ideas for Getty Museum (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
They live across the street from each other, but that doesn’t mean the Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Philharmonic always get along. The city’s two largest classical-music organizations found themselves at odds this year over the L.A. Philharmonic’s growing emphasis on performing opera. After some conversations and meetings, they say they have made peace.
MORE: Drama Afoot as L.A. Opera Feels Heat of Rival Works (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Clybourne Park” by Bruce Norris experienced some difficulty during its pre-Broadway run at the Mark Taper Forum when the playwright got into a spat with producer Scott Rudin. Norris had withdrawn from a TV adaptation of the novel “The Corrections” that Rudin was producing. In apparent retaliation, Rudin killed the play’s Broadway run. “Clybourne” eventually opened on Broadway without Rudin and won a Tony Award.
MORE: Feud clouds fate of ‘Clybourne Park’ | Taper’s ‘Clybourne Park’ heading to Broadway after all (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Performing all of Mahler’s symphonies is one of the biggest projects any orchestra can undertake. The L.A. Phil’s Mahler cycle was a popular draw at Walt Disney Concert Hall and again in music director Gustavo Dudamel’s homeland of Venezuela. The Mahler project culminated with a performance in Caracas of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 that was broadcast to cinemas around the world and was recorded for DVD.
MORE: Gustavo Dudamel’s Mahler project (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Street artist Shepard Fairey was sentenced to probation and managed to avoid jail time in his criminal case involving the “Hope” poster of Barack Obama. Fairey has been under criminal scrutiny since he admitted in 2009 to submitting false images and deleting others in his civil case with the Associated Press.
MORE: Shepard Fairey sentenced to probation, fine in Obama ‘Hope’ case (Damian Dovarganes / AP)
Michael Heizer’s, right, 340-ton boulder drew international attention as it slowly made its way via truck from Riverside County to LACMA. The rock is now on permanent display on the grounds of the museum’s campus.
MORE: Review: LACMA’s new hunk ‘Levitated Mass’ has some substance (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
